Building:  An Adventure

Welcome to an exciting adventure looking at both ancient and modern architecture.  To begin the journey, you must understand the task.  

The Task:You have been selected to represent your city.  You will be part of an international panel that will consider the question: What are the Seven Wonders of the Modern World?  

Familiarize yourself with the Process and then begin this wonderful adventure!!

The Process:

Familiarize yourself with the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World

Research some other Wonders of the World

Rate at least 8 different examples of the architecture in today's world using the Ratings Grid.  Based on your ratings, select the TOP TWO examples of OUTSTANDING Modern Architecture

Compose a Position Paper that will persuade your fellow committee members to place your recommendations on The List.  A Rubric.will be used to evaluate your paper.

Create a Model of One of your selections using the media of your choice

To get started, you will be visiting a site that has information about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.    

Step One  

• When you arrive at this first site, you will be able to click on any of the pictures and get information on the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.  There is also a Canonical List which will present the Wonders in chronological order.  You can also get information about the Wonders from this list.  There is also a map to show were each of these Wonders was located.  

Step Two

Now that you have a little information about the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, let's look at some other wonders.  As you look at these 'Wonders' fill out a Ratings Grid for each of them.  

• The Colosseum 
• Stonehenge     
• The Great Wall of China
• The Leaning Tower of Pisa 
• Taj Mahal

If you would like, you can explore many other options through this site:  "Other Wonders".

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Step Three

• Now that you have explored some of the 'Wonders'of the world, let's begin looking at the 'Wonders of the Modern World' Here are additional links for many of the "Wonders".  Remember to fill out the Ratings Grid for each Wonder.
  • The Channel Tunnel
  • Brooklyn Bridge
  • CN Tower
  • The Eiffel Tower
  • The Empire State Building  
  • The Gateway Arch      
  • The Golden Gate Bridge       The Golden Gate Bridge
  • Hoover Dam
  • Mount Rushmore National Memorial  
  • The Panama Canal
  • The Petronas Twin Towers
  • The Statue of Liberty           The Statue of Liberty  
  • The Sydney Opera House
  • Washington Monument     

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Step Four

Now that you have finished your research, you will need to write the Position Paper to the International Committee.  Remember you are recommending two structures for this list.  Be sure to name the structure, and explain why it is worthy of being placed on this list. Describe for the International Committee what makes these two structures the most Awesome examples you have researched.

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Evaluation  Your Position Paper will be evaluated by using a Rubric.

Step Five

You will also need to begin construction of a Model of your favorite structure.  Be creative in your use of materials.  You might use, clay, toothpicks, paper mache, paper, craft sticks, metal, salt dough, or any combination.  You might consult some print material from you library to help with the construction.  Building with Paper  by E. Richard Churchill and Great American Buildings by Masahiro Chatani and Keiko Nakazawa are two great sources.

Use this Ratings Grid to rate the different structures you will be researching.  Each attribute of the structure should be rated on a 1-5 scale.

1 =  Very Poor      2 = Poor     3 = Good     4 = Very Good

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RUBRIC GUIDELINES

Highly Proficient (4)	Proficient (3)	Minimally Proficient (2)	Not Yet Proficient (1)
Strongly develops a coherent message for chosen genre	Adequately develops a coherent message for chosen genre	Develops a vague message	Displays a poorly developed or incoherent message
Strong and consistent evidence of paragraphing	Some evidence of paragraphing	May evidence some attempt at paragraphing	No evidence of paragraphing
Displays sophisticated sentence structure throughout	Displays adequate form and variety in sentence structure	Displays simplistic sentence structure	Displays little understanding of sentence structure
Demonstrates a strong sense of plot and style	Demonstrates some sense of plot and style	Demonstrates little sense of plot and style	Lacks a sense of plot and style
Writing is well-developed and easily understood	Writing is generally well-developed and easily understood	Writing is barely developed and at times, not easily understood	Organizational difficulties are obvious; writing is disjointed and hard to follow
Vocabulary may exceed grade level expectations	Vocabulary is generally at grade level	Vocabulary, though simplistic, is generally at grade level	Vocabulary is consistency undeveloped and below grade level
Few, if any, mistakes in mechanics and spelling	Some mistakes in mechanics and spelling	Mistakes in mechanics and spelling may interfere with reader's comprehension	Many mistakes in mechanics and spelling

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Thanks for exploring this WebQuest.  If you have questions or comments e-mail them by clicking the icon below.

WebMaster:  Julia Barthelmes